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It’s not every day a rapper gets to celebrate a birthday by announcing his homegrown label has partnered with Interscope Records. For J. Cole, that moment came last night when he brought in his 29th year with the news that his Dreamville imprint would be teaming up with the label that has catapulted the careers of Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Dr. Dre.

“We provide the artist, the direction, the guidance, the music, the new ideas, and they provide muscle and years of experience of really giving artists the proper push,” J. Cole told FORBES in an exclusive interview explaining the deal following his sold out show in New York last night. “We hope to add to the list of legendary albums that were made over in that building.”

With Interscope providing distribution and industry heavy-lifting, Dreamville will work on proliferating the guerrilla marketing that's helped J. Cole sell more than 1.3 million records. One example: Cole’s 2013’s Dollar and a Dream tour, where tickets were sold for $1 to venues announced online the day of the show. Set up in 2007, Dreamville’s roster includes new names Bas, Omen and KQuick, some of whom are featured on the latest mixtape given to every guest at the Madison Square Garden Theatre last night. The CD came with a hand-written note that promised, “This is only the beginning.”

Many rappers start labels, but by the sounds of it, this venture is more than a vanity deal. For Grammy-nominated Cole – who produced the majority of his gold-certified 2011 studio debut Cole World: The Sideline Story and his 2013 follow-up Born Sinner – the partnership gives him an opportunity to work on every aspect of his craft.

“As an executive it gives me the opportunity to sign acts and break them, but as a producer it allows me to produce someone’s entire album and put it out – that’s what I really look forward to,” said the Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree from his dressing room backstage.

Cole, who was signed by Jay Z to Roc Nation in 2009, has obviously been taking notes.

“It’s definitely a path that’s been made possible by the Dr. Dres and the Jay Zs – these guys who had amazing artistic ability in terms of rapping and production and song writing, but also had a double-sided executive mind.”

Cole seems to understand that in an age where music is so often leaked, special experiences and surprises are the new deluxe albums. Few atmospheres matched the crowd’s joy at the unannounced arrival of Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar last night, who both made guest appearances to perform hits including “PSA” and “M.A.A.D City,” respectively.

“That’s why we love what Beyoncé did,” says Cole, recalling the pop star’s shock December release of a 17-video album. “Those are the type of things that excite us – this new business model.”

"Dreamville celebrates the sort of grass roots, out-of-the-box approach to connecting artists to their fans that can help move the music industry into the future," said Interscope’s president of urban music, Joie Manda, in a statement.

“He [Cole] was one of the first people to accept me in the music business,” Kendrick Lamar told the audience last night. “This is not a regular rapper friendship; this is my brother.”

Though Cole has yet to make the Hip-Hop Cash Kings list of highest earning rappers, as Jay Z gifted Cole an original Roc Nation gold chain onstage in a fitting rap changing of the guard, one couldn’t help but feel Cole’s time has come.

“This is a result of years of learning and figuring this game out,” said Cole. “It’s not an overnight thing but every time you make it up a level you still appreciate and remember level one. It’s definitely one of the best nights ever.”